TACOMA, Wash. --- The Pacific Lutheran University baseball team (9-15, 6-9 NWC) faced cross-town rival Puget Sound (15-10, 6-5 NWC) at their place for a mid-week matchup on Wednesday afternoon, falling in walk-off fashion, 7-6.
 
Rochne Beecham and Ethan Keintz got the Lutes started in the top of the first, both reaching base safely to open the game. Aaron Barber grounded into a double play, with Brody Phinney unable to bring Beecham around to score. Andrew Hickman got the starting nod for the Lutes in the midweek non-conference game, stranding two base runners in the opening frame to keep the game scoreless.
 
Rutger Youch and Carson Burke kept their bats hot, opening the second with a pair of singles before each stealing a bag to put both in scoring position. Braeden Lundberg's sacrifice fly brought Youch home to put the Lutes up 1-0 early.
 
Hickman's outing was cut short in the second after sitting down the first two batters, as Jonathan Cohen would come in relief, stranding the bases loaded and keeping the Lutes up 1-0. Steven Rodriguez later relived Cohen in the fifth, where the Loggers hit a three-run home run to take a 3-1 lead.
 
Trailing into the seventh inning, Kyler Gerber, Beecham, and Keintz reached safely, leading to an RBI walk by Barber to cut into the deficit. Phinney took the Loggers reliever deep as the first batter he would face, clearing the bases with a grand slam, and also putting the Lutes back up 6-3.
 
The Loggers responded in the home half of the eighth, hitting a solo home run, and scoring on an error by Peter King, making it a 6-5 game heading into the final inning. The Loggers opening the ninth with a pair of singles off of Jon Crawley, then scored the tying run after a fielding error by the Lutes pitcher. Matt Carleton relieved Crawley, walking a pair of batters to score the Loggers winning run, 7-6.
 
"Tough ending today. We didn't play well for most of the game, but found a way to take a lead in the seventh thanks to a big home run from Brody Phinney. Unfortunately, we played sloppy defense down the stretch and it cost us." Said Head Coach Nolan Soete after the game.
 
Carson Burke saw the ball well on Wednesday, going 3-4 at the plate, with a triple, and also tallying a stolen base. Phinney drove in four of the Lutes six runs with his one swing of the bat, going 1-5 for the game. The Lutes totaled 13 hits, six walks, and two stolen bases while the Loggers had just seven hits, but walked seven times. The Lutes four errors in the field proved to be the difference in Wednesday's contest.
 
Six Lutes saw action on the mound, as Crawley was credited with the loss, as he was responsible for the winning run that crossed the plate for the Loggers. Jonathan Cohen had the longest outing of any Lute pitcher, going 2.1 innings on the bump, allowing just one hit and striking out one as well.
 
Baseball hosts the Chapman Panthers of the SCIAC for a three-game series at PLU Field this weekend, playing one game each day from Friday through Sunday.
 
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